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I'm interested in the answers. I'm having upcoming interviews with Facebook, and I wonder if the recent events should be addressed in the "culture fit" intervie

I'm interested in the answers. I'm having upcoming interviews with Facebook, and I wonder if the recent events should be addressed in the "culture fit" interview. My personal opinion is that the problem is not so much with Facebook but with the legislation. Corporations like Facebook are there to make profit within the rules defined by society. I hope there will be stronger laws to protect our privacy and data, and generally more awareness on the issue.

Dwolb 9y ago
The nuance here is there's better individual data collection and targeting on a massive scale than society has ever dealt with before. Never has a business been able to properly choose the correct advertisement to show an individual at the exact moment they're looking to purchase an item to maximize likelihood of purchase. It's incredible and we've never dealt with something like this. We'll get better at understanding and education of the issues but not without major setbacks. So, yes corporations can legally make a profit within rules defined by society. However, whether or not corporations are in a sustainable position is entirely up to how they're able to manage long term viability with profits (short and long term).
Vinnl 9y ago
> My personal opinion is that the problem is not so much with Facebook but with the legislation. Corporations like Facebook are there to make profit within the rules defined by society. This holds true as long as those corporations do not influence what the law looks like (i.e. they are the results of a democratic process). The question is whether that is the case for Facebook.
- test6554 9y ago
  It is also important for industry to inform the public about how certain legislation impacts them, their products and the quality/quantity of jobs.
  - Vinnl 9y ago
    Yes, that's what makes this a difficult problem. You don't want to ban companies from influencing legislation, but then you also can't say they were just playing by the rules, and that they did not influence the rules not being tougher on them.
tomelders 9y ago
> Corporations like Facebook are there to make profit within the rules defined by society They seem to be having their cake and eating it. You hear the term "disruption" all the time from tech companies, and you'll hear tech leaders wax lyrical about their vision for society and how their work/product/service is shaping that. Recent events have outed these people for what they are. Self serving profiteers who only care about how society can help them, and have little regard for how they can best serve society. While shady corporate megalomaniacs are a problem, they are by no means unique. What leaves such a bad taste in my mouth however, is the way tech billionaires are so eager to project the idea that they're benevolent agents of progressive change, when really they're not and they're not even trying. They've been dining out for free on goodwill for too long. Now it's time to start paying the bill.
thisacctforreal 9y ago
Just because you may doesn't mean you should. It's absurd to outlaw everything before it becomes a problem. A lot of the data that Facebook gathers in their dragnet, another purpose-built company could ethically use to solve a problem for you.

Dwolb 9y ago

The nuance here is there's better individual data collection and targeting on a massive scale than society has ever dealt with before. Never has a business been able to properly choose the correct advertisement to show an individual at the exact moment they're looking to purchase an item to maximize likelihood of purchase. It's incredible and we've never dealt with something like this. We'll get better at understanding and education of the issues but not without major setbacks. So, yes corporations can legally make a profit within rules defined by society. However, whether or not corporations are in a sustainable position is entirely up to how they're able to manage long term viability with profits (short and long term).

Vinnl 9y ago

> My personal opinion is that the problem is not so much with Facebook but with the legislation. Corporations like Facebook are there to make profit within the rules defined by society. This holds true as long as those corporations do not influence what the law looks like (i.e. they are the results of a democratic process). The question is whether that is the case for Facebook.

test6554 9y ago
It is also important for industry to inform the public about how certain legislation impacts them, their products and the quality/quantity of jobs.
- Vinnl 9y ago
  Yes, that's what makes this a difficult problem. You don't want to ban companies from influencing legislation, but then you also can't say they were just playing by the rules, and that they did not influence the rules not being tougher on them.

tomelders 9y ago

> Corporations like Facebook are there to make profit within the rules defined by society They seem to be having their cake and eating it. You hear the term "disruption" all the time from tech companies, and you'll hear tech leaders wax lyrical about their vision for society and how their work/product/service is shaping that. Recent events have outed these people for what they are. Self serving profiteers who only care about how society can help them, and have little regard for how they can best serve society. While shady corporate megalomaniacs are a problem, they are by no means unique. What leaves such a bad taste in my mouth however, is the way tech billionaires are so eager to project the idea that they're benevolent agents of progressive change, when really they're not and they're not even trying. They've been dining out for free on goodwill for too long. Now it's time to start paying the bill.

thisacctforreal 9y ago

Just because you may doesn't mean you should. It's absurd to outlaw everything before it becomes a problem. A lot of the data that Facebook gathers in their dragnet, another purpose-built company could ethically use to solve a problem for you.